"Identity?
What identity?"
"We beg the young master to inform us whether you are the Monarch's successor disciple, the Monarch's descendant, or..." "Or what?"
At some unknown time, that unique twilight stillness on Gu Qingfeng's person gradually faded away. His expression was no longer aloof and cold, his deep eyes no longer domineering and disdainful. After everything vanished, the Gu Qingfeng who slaughtered without mercy, violent and cruel, disappeared. The earlier Gu Qingfeng, carefree and casual, lazy and relaxed, had also quietly returned at some point.
Descending from mid-air to the ground, perhaps due to excessive consumption or sheer exhaustion, he appeared somewhat weary. He casually found a raised patch of earth and sat down, pulling out an exquisite wine pot and a bronze-colored wine cup.
He poured wine, drank it in one gulp, then raised his eyes to look at the more than twenty Chixiao people kneeling opposite him—Ziyang, Wei Xuan, and others—asking unhurriedly, "Or do you want to ask if I am Gu Tianlang?"
Upon hearing the name Gu Tianlang, Ziyang and the other kneeling Chixiao people dared not raise their heads. They had always revered and feared the name of the Chixiao Monarch.
He poured wine again, drank again, downing several cups in succession. Gu Qingfeng asked, "If I said I am Gu Tianlang, would you believe me?"
As his words fell, Ziyang and the others couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Believe?
To be honest, they very much wanted to believe that this white-robed man before them was the Chixiao Monarch they still missed to this day.
But it was only a desire to believe.
Harsh reality and cool reason told them that this white-robed man could not possibly be the Chixiao Monarch.
Because when the Chixiao Monarch was judged by the Immortal Dao back then, they were all present, witnessing with their own eyes as the Chixiao Monarch was judged by the Immortal Dao, reduced to ashes, utterly annihilated, with no hope of survival whatsoever.
Although there had been rumors all these years that the Chixiao Monarch had already reincarnated.
Even if that were true, this white-robed man before them bore neither the aura of reincarnation nor the aura of possession and rebirth.
This single point shattered everyone's fantasies.
Even knowing this, Ziyang and the others still wanted to ask clearly. They desperately hoped the Chixiao Monarch was still alive, and Gu Qingfeng's presence had made them see the shadow of the Chixiao Monarch more than once.
"If you yourselves don't dare believe, what's the point in asking me."
Gu Qingfeng chuckled, then looked toward Su Hua standing in the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall garden, asking, "Miss Su, I heard you've been looking for Gu Tianlang for a long time. Do you believe I am Gu Tianlang?"
Su Hua did not respond, only staring intently at Gu Qingfeng with her beautiful eyes, as if trying to see through his heart.
She had indeed been searching for the Chixiao Monarch.
For a very, very long time.
Like Ziyang and the other Chixiao people, she also very much hoped this person before her was the Chixiao Monarch she had been painstakingly seeking.
Alas, it was only a hope.
Her reason told her it was impossible.
No matter how great the Chixiao Monarch's abilities were, he could not defy the laws of cultivation, nor the laws of life, nor the order of heaven and earth, nor the laws of karma.
Because the Chixiao Monarch was her karma.
Su Hua firmly believed that if the true Chixiao Monarch appeared before her, her heart would surely tremble.
"See, you don't believe it either."
Gu Qingfeng gave a wry laugh, then asked, "Huode, do you believe it?"
Huode, who was smoking his large pipe, clearly hadn't expected Gu Qingfeng to suddenly ask him such a baffling question. He glanced at Ziyang and the other Chixiao people, then at Su Hua and the other women, curled his lip, and said sarcastically, "If you, kid, are Gu Tianlang, then I'm the Old Master!"
"Hahahaha!"
Gu Qingfeng was amused by Huode's words and couldn't help but laugh heartily. After laughing, he said, "Alright, stop kneeling. Get up. I am neither Gu Tianlang's successor disciple nor his descendant. Even if I were, you wouldn't need to kneel. You are all people of the Chixiao Sect. You should know the Chixiao Sect never had a rule about kneeling."
Ziyang and the others did not rise, asking further, "If the young master is neither the Monarch's successor nor his descendant, then how could you manifest the Chi-Shang Seal Token? And why would our Dragon-Elephant Spirits revere you so?"
"That..." Gu Qingfeng crossed his legs, rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and replied, "I can manifest the Chi-Shang Seal Token because someone taught me. As for why your Dragon-Elephant Spirits revere me, I don't know."
Don't know?
Someone taught him?
Under the heavens, only the Chixiao Monarch knew how to manifest the Chi-Shang Seal Token. Could it be...
"Young master, was the one who taught you the Chi-Shang Seal Token the Monarch?"
"Correct. His surname is Gu, given name Tianlang, Daoist title Chixiao. But he was just a wisp of spiritual will..."
Surname Gu?
Given name Tianlang?
Daoist title Chixiao?
A wisp of spiritual will?
This...
Could it really be the Chixiao Monarch?
Thinking of this, Ziyang and the others seemed to realize something, asking, "May we ask, young master, where is the Monarch's spiritual will now? Is it... still present?"
"Long gone. Vanished!"
Gone...
Vanished...
Ziyang and the other Chixiao people collapsed onto the ground, stunned, at a loss.
Not far away, Su Hua had been staring at Gu Qingfeng the whole time, trying to discern truth from falsehood, to see through his heart. Yet she truly could not tell whether what Gu Qingfeng said was true or false. It seemed true.
Thinking carefully, it wasn't impossible. Back when the Chixiao Monarch was judged by the Immortal Dao, his soul and spirit were both annihilated. But with the Monarch's divine abilities, leaving behind a wisp of spiritual will wouldn't be difficult.
As for relying on this wisp of spiritual will to teach a disciple in dreams—while such a thing sounded rather mystical, it wasn't unheard of. Many great powers could do it. She believed the Chixiao Monarch absolutely could as well.
However, a spiritual will was, after all, just a wisp of spiritual will. No matter how powerful, it would eventually weaken and dissipate one day.
Perhaps after teaching Gu Qingfeng, that wisp of the Chixiao Monarch's spiritual will merged into this fellow's body.
Maybe the Dragon-Elephant Spirits sensed that Gu Qingfeng's body contained the Chixiao Monarch's spiritual will, hence their immense reverence for him.
Thinking this way, all the mysterious and bizarre events surrounding Gu Qingfeng could be fully explained.
Only...
Su Hua always felt this fellow's words didn't sound like the truth.
Even though she couldn't discern it, couldn't see through it.
She just felt it wasn't true.
But if it weren't true, she really couldn't imagine what connection between Gu Qingfeng and the Chixiao Monarch could explain all the bizarre events surrounding this fellow's identity.
"You must not mistake me for Gu Tianlang's successor or anything like that. The reason he taught me the Chi-Shang Seal Token was just to have me handle one matter for him...
Although he taught me many things, we each sought what we needed. There was no formal master-disciple relationship."